Jared Clackner was sentenced for his conviction on assault charges on his friend Bill Henning. Clackner was sentenced January 7, 2019.
Amy Newman, NorthJersey

Jared Clackner was sentenced to 364 days in the Bergen County Jail and five years probation, to be served reversed, for his conviction on assault charges. Clackner, of Denville, stood trial in October for killing his friend Bill Henning on the side of Route 80 in March 2015. A jury found Clackner not guilty of manslaughter, but convicted him on assault charges. Bill's family, including his sister, Lynn Cozzi, her husband, Paul and their daughter Nicolette spoke before Judge Susan Steele before she sentenced Clackner on Monday, January 7, 2019. Lynn was overcome with emotion and had to sit before speaking to Judge Steele.(Photo: Amy Newman/NorthJersey.com)

Lynn Cozzi placed a box of her brother Bill Henning’s ashes before a Superior Court judge on Monday.

Moments later, court officers rushed to her aid as she collapsed when her daughter read a sorrowful speech that recounted the day police knocked on their door with news that Henning had been found dead on the side of Route 80.

"The physical, emotional, psychological toll this has taken," Lynn Cozzi said. "I'm not the same person."

Across the courtroom, Jared Clackner — the man who had been accused of causing Henning’s death — watched intently with his hands folded. Prosecutors had said Clackner assaulted Henning during an argument as the two drove home from a ZZ Top concert in March 2015 and abandoned the body for a brief time.

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Jared Clackner, on right, with his attorney Brian Neary, was sentenced to 364 days in the Bergen County Jail and five years probation, to be served reversed, for his conviction on assault charges. Clackner, of Denville, stood trial in October for killing his friend Bill Henning on the side of Route 80 in March 2015. A jury found Clackner not guilty of manslaughter, but convicted him on assault charges. Clackner was sentenced before Judge Susan Steele in Bergen County Superior Court on Monday, January 7, 2019. Amy Newman/NorthJersey.com

Jared Clackner was sentenced to 364 days in the Bergen County Jail and five years probation, to be served reversed, for his conviction on assault charges. Clackner, of Denville, stood trial in October for killing his friend Bill Henning on the side of Route 80 in March 2015. A jury found Clackner not guilty of manslaughter, but convicted him on assault charges. Bill Henning's family, including his sister Lynn Cozzi, shown with her husband Paul, spoke before Judge Susan Steele prior to Clackner's sentencing in Bergen County Superior Court on Monday, January 7, 2019. Cozzi holds a photograph of her brother, father and herself. Amy Newman/NorthJersey.com

Jared Clackner was sentenced to 364 days in the Bergen County Jail and five years probation, to be served reversed, for his conviction on assault charges. Clackner, of Denville, stood trial in October for killing his friend Bill Henning on the side of Route 80 in March 2015. A jury found Clackner not guilty of manslaughter, but convicted him on assault charges. A box containing the ashes of Bill Henning sits before Nicolette Cozzi, with her father Paul Cozzi, while she reads a statement before Judge Susan Steele in Bergen County Superior Court on Monday, January 7, 2019. Bill was Nicolette's uncle. Amy Newman/NorthJersey.com

Jared Clackner, on right, with his attorney Brian Neary, was sentenced to 364 days in the Bergen County Jail and five years probation, to be served reversed, for his conviction on assault charges. Clackner, of Denville, stood trial in October for killing his friend Bill Henning on the side of Route 80 in March 2015. A jury found Clackner not guilty of manslaughter, but convicted him on assault charges. Clackner listens while Judge Susan Steele sentences him in Bergen County Superior Court on Monday, January 7, 2019. Amy Newman/NorthJersey.com

Jared Clackner was sentenced to 364 days in the Bergen County Jail and five years probation, to be served reversed, for his conviction on assault charges. Clackner, of Denville, stood trial in October for killing his friend Bill Henning on the side of Route 80 in March 2015. A jury found Clackner not guilty of manslaughter, but convicted him on assault charges. Bill's family, including his sister, Lynn Cozzi, her husband, Paul and their daughter Nicolette spoke before Judge Susan Steele before she sentenced Clackner on Monday, January 7, 2019. Lynn was overcome with emotion and had to sit before speaking to Judge Steele. Amy Newman/NorthJersey.com

Jared Clackner was sentenced to 364 days in the Bergen County Jail and five years probation, to be served reversed, for his conviction on assault charges. Clackner, of Denville, stood trial in October for killing his friend Bill Henning on the side of Route 80 in March 2015. A jury found Clackner not guilty of manslaughter, but convicted him on assault charges. Clackner was sentenced before Judge Susan Steele in Bergen County Superior Court on Monday, January 7, 2019. James Heston, on left, a friend of Bill's for over forty years, talks of Bill's nonviolent and giving character. Amy Newman/NorthJersey.com

Jared Clackner, on right, with his attorney Brian Neary, was sentenced to 364 days in the Bergen County Jail and five years probation, to be served reversed, for his conviction on assault charges. Clackner, of Denville, stood trial in October for killing his friend Bill Henning on the side of Route 80 in March 2015. A jury found Clackner not guilty of manslaughter, but convicted him on assault charges. Clackner was sentenced before Judge Susan Steele in Bergen County Superior Court on Monday, January 7, 2019. Amy Newman/NorthJersey.com

Jared Clackner, on right, with his attorney Brian Neary, was sentenced to 364 days in the Bergen County Jail and five years probation, to be served reversed, for his conviction on assault charges. Clackner, of Denville, stood trial in October for killing his friend Bill Henning on the side of Route 80 in March 2015. A jury found Clackner not guilty of manslaughter, but convicted him on assault charges. Clackner was sentenced before Judge Susan Steele in Bergen County Superior Court on Monday, January 7, 2019. Amy Newman/NorthJersey.com

Jared Clackner was sentenced to 364 days in the Bergen County Jail and five years probation, to be served reversed, for his conviction on assault charges. Clackner, of Denville, stood trial in October for killing his friend Bill Henning on the side of Route 80 in March 2015. A jury found Clackner not guilty of manslaughter, but convicted him on assault charges. Bill's sister Lynn Cozzi and her husband Paul Cozzi listen to Judge Susan Steele sentence Clackner. Amy Newman/NorthJersey.com

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Clackner's five-week trial ended in October. A jury acquitted Clackner of the most serious charge: aggravated manslaughter, which would have carried a 30-year maximum sentence had he been convicted. Instead, Clackner was convicted of aggravated assault and endangering an injured victim, both third-degree charges.

Monday, a cohort of Henning’s friends and family wore buttons plastered with his face and pleaded for the judge to bestow the maximum sentence: 10 years in prison. Prosecutors requested a six-year prison term.

But Judge Susan Steele, citing Clackner’s lack of a prior criminal record, among other factors, sentenced him to five years of probation, followed by a delayed sentence of 364 days in the Bergen County Jail.

"We hope now that everyone can finally be at peace with this terrible tragedy," Brian Neary, Clackner's attorney, said after the verdict.

But Henning’s friends and family, angered by the ruling as they filed out of court, were left asking questions that have lingered since Henning’s death and may never be answered.

“How could a friend leave another friend to die, helpless on the side of the road, without calling for help?” Nicolette Cozzi, Henning's niece, said in her speech.

Clackner, 61, of Denville, admitted to police that he slugged Henning several times during a drive home from the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood.

Later that night, along the shoulder on Route 80 in Elmwood Park, state police found Henning's body hanging out of the passenger side of his car, pinned by the car door, which was pressed against a guardrail. Henning's face was severely beaten, and there was a stream of blood dripping from his face onto his forearm.

Clackner's trial centered around the question of how Henning died. To prosecutors, Henning suffered a heart attack induced by Clackner's aggression. Clackner's defense counsel, however, painted him as a victim who acted in self-defense.

The official cause of death was ruled a "homicide by heart attack," a forensic term used to explain death from an arrhythmia that is induced by physical or emotional stress provoked by criminal activity.

Henning's autopsy revealed blockages in the three main arteries of his heart, some of which were occluded between 80 and 90 percent, according to the Bergen County Medical Examiner's Office.

Jared Clackner was sentenced to 364 days in the Bergen County Jail and five years probation, to be served reversed, for his conviction on assault charges. Clackner, of Denville, stood trial in October for killing his friend Bill Henning on the side of Route 80 in March 2015. A jury found Clackner not guilty of manslaughter, but convicted him on assault charges. Bill Henning's family, including his sister Lynn Cozzi, shown with her husband Paul, spoke before Judge Susan Steele prior to Clackner's sentencing in Bergen County Superior Court on Monday, January 7, 2019. Cozzi holds a photograph of her brother, father and herself.(Photo: Amy Newman/NorthJersey.com)

In defense, Neary brought forth an independent forensic pathologist, who testified that Henning likely died of "compression asphyxiation" from being pinned by the car door.

On Monday, Steele said the pictures of Henning's face “shock the conscience," but the judge noted conflicting medical evidence on whether the attack caused his death.

"The injuries that were inflicted by the defendant were superficial,” she said.

The only details of what happened that night were provided to police by Clackner, who spoke with investigators but did not testify in open court. Instead, prosecutors attempted to piece together the night through a series of videos.

Around 11:24 p.m, a highway camera on Route 80 captured Henning's car as it grazed the guardrail. A shadowy figure, believed to be Clackner, is seen walking around the car and pacing behind it for a short while. The camera then turns to film the other side of the highway.

A video of the scene recorded from the state police dashboard camera showed Elmwood Park fire and EMS volunteers arriving within minutes and surrounding Henning's car. Moments later, Clackner stumbles into view and spouts allegations that he "punched the living [expletive]" out of Henning and "would have killed that [expletive]."

During a police interview hours later, Clackner said he and Henning had dinner that night before they drove in Henning's car to the concert. They saw the concert and had a few drinks. During the drive home, a fight broke out in the car.

Prosecutors said Clackner gave multiple stories as to why the fight started: that Henning was kidnapping him by driving the wrong direction or possibly making a sexual advance. They pointed to his changing stories as evidence of his guilt.

But Neary argued that even his client didn't know what caused the fight. Clackner told police that Henning lunged at him and grabbed his neck and the back of his head.

Absent a clear motive and prior criminal record, Steele said she considered Clackner a low risk of committing another crime.